By COLlive reporter
Photos: Kobi Har Tzvi
Thousands of Jewish people visited an Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem on Sunday to commemorate the yartzeit anniversary of Shimon haTzadik, the last member of the Great Assembly.
Jews of all ages passed through Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood to reach the area that was named after the Mishnaic sage around his tomb.
The tomb and surrounding lands was purchased in 1876 by the committee of the Sephardic community and the Ashkenazi Assembly of Israel. The UN does not consider it a Jewish area.
Shimon HaTzadik was the first Tanna and the last member of the Anshei Knesses Hagdolah, received the Torah tradition from his teachers, the last prophets, and faithfully continued the holy task of guiding the Jewish people.
The Chesdei Yosef organization, run by Rabbi Moshe Deitsch, coordinated the pilgrimage and hosted a large meal for visitors that included singing and dancing throughout the night.
Most recently, it was advised that Kohanim should take an alternate route to the area of the kever after Jewish burial caves were discovered during road work.
Arutz Sheva reported caves containing crypts were found in the course of making improvements in the road leading to the kever, on Derekh Shekhem near the Pierre Van Passan traffic circle in the Wadi Joz neighborhood.
The kever has changed much since I first visited it 30 years ago. Back then it was empty. Nobody and nothing there, and very dangerous to get to it. Today BH there are hundreds of people there all day every day. Seen in the first pictures at the microphone is Reb Abish Zeinvirth, who says a marvelous shiur in Zohar every day before Mincha.
isn’t dancing done only by kever of Rashbee ?
in Jewish history , Was there any other kever of Tzadkim where dancing was done ?
i wish i was there